David Bodlak received the MFA degree from Claremont Graduate University in California and has exhibited his work in galleries, universities, and museums in the U.S.A. and in Europe.

From 1979-'92 he lived and worked in Spain where major exhibitions of his paintings and drawings were presented throughout Andalucía and in the cities of Granada, Toledo, and Madrid. His work is represented in the collections of numerous distinguished institutions and in private collections here in the United States and abroad.

In addition to his work as a professional painter, he has taught painting, drawing, art history and art appreciation at Ohio University, California Polytechnic State University, Cuesta College, and the renowned Chouinard Art School of the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles.

In Spain, he was the head of the Art Department of the English International College of Marbella.

He taught art history and drawing courses for Manchester Community College in Connecticut for 17 years. In June 2010 he was honored with the naming of a drawing studio at MCC.
The David Bodlak Drawing studio is located in the Arts, Sciences and Technology building, room D109.

It is my strong belief that a work of art should offer the viewer a multitude of visual possibilities, the same variety of imagery found in the shifting patterns of nature. Titles of my works indicate the intended 'themes' and images. When the viewer, like a child gazing at cloud formations, perceives other - perhaps personal - imagery, my fuller intention is realized. In effect, when you look at a work of art, half of what you see is what the artist placed there, the other half is what you bring to it.

Artist and teacher Paul Darrow said it best:

"Art is not something you do on Tuesday and Thurday afternoons, and it is not a career; art is a way of life as essential as breathing"

This is the principle, the belief, with which I approach my work and all of my teaching-whether in the studio or in the history of art courses. In an era that has become increasingly indifferent toward the arts, it seems to me that the relevance of art as a part of one's "way of life" is of greater importance than ever before. I try to share with my students my own strong commitment to art and my sense of urgency that indifference not be turned into intolerance; that the relevance of art might be seen as integral to each individual's deepest sense of personal growth.

Hopefully, the students with whom I am privileged to work will come to understand art as an enhancement of their own lives on every level of their endeavors and achievements.